It was a crazy, traumatic Saturday for us.
It began innocently enough. We decided to take mom to the Democratic Preference Poll for Hawaii just for the fun of it and to give her a different experience. We normally vote with mail-in ballots. However, because Hawaii's primary is held in August and the Democratic Convention is in July, a Preference Poll for the presidency was held this past Saturday.
The online information said polling places on Oahu would open at 11:00. We assumed we could vote once we registered. We waited in line and another voter told us that in order to register with the Democratic Party we would each have to pay $25 as she did several years ago. I told her that was pretty crazy because you can't charge people $25 to place a primary vote. She felt it was reasonable that if you were going to be a Democrat, you should support the party.
I got out of line to ask that quick question.... because let's face it. I'm not paying $75 to place 3 votes for an outcome I was already pretty convinced of.
Once we got in we asked if we had to register as Democrats if we'd already been voting the Democratic ticket in the mail-in voting for the past several years.
They said yes, but didn't know how to check to see if we were already registered Democrats. It took some time for them to figure that out.
We had to fill out forms with our IDs in order to register, but were then told we couldn't vote until 1:00 and that we had to be back by then because the doors would close!
Mom was hungry so we decided to run down and have a quick lunch. We then rushed back to the polling place.
Of course they didn't close the doors. It was more misinformation and there was a long line to get in.
By that point, the place was packed to the gills, but we found our precinct table.
In all the rush, mom's foot caught the edge of our bench in the cafeteria and she fell backwards hitting her head on the adjacent bench.
I was looking the other way when I heard the collective gasp of everybody around us. When I turned, there was mom on the floor holding her head.
Good Samaritans jumped to the rescue. One fellow went searching for ice and found Bernie supporters had a cooler. They kindly formed an ice pack for mom. A nurse and nursing student came over and quickly checked mom and saw that she seemed to be OK.
We had to sign up again with someone else, but were still not given a ballot. We had to wait until 1:00.
Several other people on our table already had ballots that were given to them by mistake. Whatever the case, at 1:00 we were all given a ballot en mass. Despite the chaos, everyone around us was kind, respectful and friendly as can be. It was amazing.
Parking was horrendous and Art had to jog far to get our car. Meanwhile the school polling place parking lot was chained so you couldn't park there.
Back at home, we told mom not to take her usual nap.
My nephew texted that we should take his grandmother to the hospital. Art had been insistent all along that I call Kaiser and ask the Advice Nurse what to do.
The Advice Nurse asked whether mom was dizzy, had a headache, or wobbling, etc. I said no. She seemed normal. However, because she was 86, they asked that we bring her in anyway.
Once there, all the nurses and attendants were shocked at how nimble and agile she was. They were going to help her off and on to another gurney to get a CAT scan, but she bounced on the CAT gurney by herself before they could do anything.
The CAT scan did not show any problems so we were sent home.
Notice her Bernie button? Yup, she neutralized my vote.
On the way home, we picked up some of mom's favorite Panda Express dishes.
The following Easter morning, Art had gone to the store and secretly bought a chocolate Easter bunny to surprise mom.
Then while she was icing her shoulder which was starting to ache, our friends Dave and Diane stopped over with a chocolate haupia pie. Oh my! She could hardly believe it.
Soon after that my brother, Dennis and sister-in-law, Nancy came by with char siu baus for our lunch.
Mom was absolutely reveling in all the attention. She can still hardly believe the excitement of this weekend.
Art and I can. We're exhausted.... and relieved.
It began innocently enough. We decided to take mom to the Democratic Preference Poll for Hawaii just for the fun of it and to give her a different experience. We normally vote with mail-in ballots. However, because Hawaii's primary is held in August and the Democratic Convention is in July, a Preference Poll for the presidency was held this past Saturday.
The online information said polling places on Oahu would open at 11:00. We assumed we could vote once we registered. We waited in line and another voter told us that in order to register with the Democratic Party we would each have to pay $25 as she did several years ago. I told her that was pretty crazy because you can't charge people $25 to place a primary vote. She felt it was reasonable that if you were going to be a Democrat, you should support the party.
Once we got in we asked if we had to register as Democrats if we'd already been voting the Democratic ticket in the mail-in voting for the past several years.
They said yes, but didn't know how to check to see if we were already registered Democrats. It took some time for them to figure that out.
We had to fill out forms with our IDs in order to register, but were then told we couldn't vote until 1:00 and that we had to be back by then because the doors would close!
Mom was hungry so we decided to run down and have a quick lunch. We then rushed back to the polling place.
Of course they didn't close the doors. It was more misinformation and there was a long line to get in.
By that point, the place was packed to the gills, but we found our precinct table.
In all the rush, mom's foot caught the edge of our bench in the cafeteria and she fell backwards hitting her head on the adjacent bench.
I was looking the other way when I heard the collective gasp of everybody around us. When I turned, there was mom on the floor holding her head.
Good Samaritans jumped to the rescue. One fellow went searching for ice and found Bernie supporters had a cooler. They kindly formed an ice pack for mom. A nurse and nursing student came over and quickly checked mom and saw that she seemed to be OK.
We had to sign up again with someone else, but were still not given a ballot. We had to wait until 1:00.
Several other people on our table already had ballots that were given to them by mistake. Whatever the case, at 1:00 we were all given a ballot en mass. Despite the chaos, everyone around us was kind, respectful and friendly as can be. It was amazing.
Back at home, we told mom not to take her usual nap.
My nephew texted that we should take his grandmother to the hospital. Art had been insistent all along that I call Kaiser and ask the Advice Nurse what to do.
The Advice Nurse asked whether mom was dizzy, had a headache, or wobbling, etc. I said no. She seemed normal. However, because she was 86, they asked that we bring her in anyway.
Once there, all the nurses and attendants were shocked at how nimble and agile she was. They were going to help her off and on to another gurney to get a CAT scan, but she bounced on the CAT gurney by herself before they could do anything.
The CAT scan did not show any problems so we were sent home.
Notice her Bernie button? Yup, she neutralized my vote.
On the way home, we picked up some of mom's favorite Panda Express dishes.
The following Easter morning, Art had gone to the store and secretly bought a chocolate Easter bunny to surprise mom.
Then while she was icing her shoulder which was starting to ache, our friends Dave and Diane stopped over with a chocolate haupia pie. Oh my! She could hardly believe it.
Soon after that my brother, Dennis and sister-in-law, Nancy came by with char siu baus for our lunch.
Mom was absolutely reveling in all the attention. She can still hardly believe the excitement of this weekend.
Art and I can. We're exhausted.... and relieved.
I am so glad your Mom seems to have recovered as well as she has! But what a terrible day. It shouldn't have been like that.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm glad you all survived such mayhem. I can't imagine doing all that to cast a vote. It almost seems prehistoric. Glad your mother was none the worse for wear. What a scare.
ReplyDeleteWe had a caucus here in Kansas and although we had to stand in line to have our registration checked and another to vote, it went smoothly. We usually have a primary but Kansas is struggling financially thanks to our Republican governor and his crazy idea to eliminate taxes on big business and the rich and pass that responsibility on down to us ordinary citizens, we couldn't afford a primary so we had a caucus. His idea was that eliminating taxes on big business would draw business to Kansas. He was dead wrong!
ReplyDeleteOi. So glad Mom is recovering well. I don't know what a Preference Poll is, but it doesn't sound good. I really hope the polling place or the newspaper or the Bernie HQ gets wind of your well illustrated post. Maybe by the next elections that could learn from their mistakes. And you patient voters, first and foremost your Mom, deserve some kind of apology. THEY are the ones who should be bringing you chocolate.
ReplyDeletePlease keep us informed on Mom's progress, Kay. And good luck to you and Art too.
She is a stunning beauty and I am surprised the men are not after her! Glad she is so healthy and very depressed to read how hard it is to vote!!
ReplyDeleteI hear more bad caucus reports than I do good. Rumor has it Hillart will do away with caucuses if she's elected. I have no idea if that's even possible.
ReplyDeleteWOW.
ReplyDeletethat was quite a day, I'm so glad it ended well!!! Art is such a good son in law,,she is well and truly loved by all,,
ReplyDeleteGoodness, gracious, sakes alive...what a wonderful ending to some awful drama.
ReplyDeleteSo glad your Mom is OK and enjoying all the attention. She is amazing. What a day you all had.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe all the grief you had to go through to vote. And I though caucusing was weird. For our primaries here, we walk in, state out party preference, the computer is set for our ballot, we punch a few keys and it is all over. A total of three minutes from door to door.
Washington felt the Bern, he swept, Alaska, Washington and Hawaii, all western states..Your Mother is amazing. God doesn't want anything to happen to her, I fell and fractured my right shoulder badly on 2/12/16 it still hurts a lot. We have Kaiser but he ambulance and now Kaiser are not paying for anything my cousin a lawyer called and got it settled today, our insurance rates would have soared and we would have gotten a raw deal..The caucuses here were crazy for Bernie but respectful he came two times, due to my shoulder fracture I was unable to go to anything but my hubs did and said everyone was great, we are signed up to vote and I am voting for the Bern, I don't see anyone else who is interested in anyone my age 67 soon to be 68 and he cares about all people to get an education and live and work with wages to get a home to live, food and health care too..Praying your Mom never has an accident like that, refresh yourself this week and relax..this is Mary from Vancouver aloha in your most lovely and wonderful Hawaii, aloha and late Easter blessings and happiness all thru the year, Passover for us in late April, I even got a small easter bunny solid chocolate and so did my hubs, he enjoys chocolate!
ReplyDeleteHi Mary! It's always so wonderful to hear from you. I do hope I never see mom or anybody take a fall like that again. I still can't believe she came out of it OK.
DeleteSounds like quite a rigmarole, but you did well to see it through.
ReplyDeleteMom is a wonder! Yours is not the first report I've heard of bad planning and just plain stupidity in the running of these events....
ReplyDeleteOne would think that these presidential preferences gatherings would be better organized. Fortunately people are surprisingly patient when it is something they have chosen to participate in.
ReplyDeleteI suspect your mom survived the adventure better than you did. there is that characteristic smile on her face while she sits with the ice pack. And then the really big smile for the chocolate!
I really don't understand the pre-voting shenanigans. I went to one back in 2007 and it was a mess, they ran out of ballots so we just wrote our candidate's name on slips of paper after waiting in line for hours. For you, on Saturday, that was so typically stupid (pardon my French) that the parking lot was closed - the State always will use "liability" as the reason.
ReplyDeleteDelegate votes determine the election? After the 2000 Gore/Bush crazy non majority voting results, I was hoping that system would be abolished so that an individual's vote actually matters.
Thank goodness your Mom is okay and still so cute and appreciative!
Wow. Your mom is a trooper! Did she get the Bernie button along with the ice?
ReplyDeleteI identify with the stories of your mom as mine is 89 and much like yours. I'm so glad she wasn't hurt any worse and that she saw it all as an exciting day. My mom would have done the same! "All's well that ends well" eh?
ReplyDeleteSo glad your mom is ok!
ReplyDeletePandemonium is an understatement.That was a wild hilarious day. Your Mom knows how to vote the right way, banged head or not. I hope that she has no ill effects from the bang on the head.
ReplyDeletewhat an exciting day...lol!
ReplyDeleteHey, Mom and I are BOTH feeling the Bern! I'm so glad she's okay, and that she got to experience the chaos that is democracy in action. Best to all of you. Don't worry, Kay, I think Hillary will get the nomination, and I'll vote for her happily. :-)
ReplyDeleteApparently BOTH political parties experienced chaos at each of their respective polling places so to me it just says how screwed up both of them are like...no longer the politico situation is like this but then I consider politics a necessary evil as part of a democracy. I sure don't want to live like in N. Korea. My elderly mom is 88 and your mom at only 2 years younger is really really healthy compared to my mom. My mom was okay until Jan. this year when her health for no reason took a major declines outta the blue. She had a UTI and I never knew that these common infections (for us 'younger' females) are health threatening. From this relatively easy treated infection mom's dementia became so bad that in the hospital she was actually hitting the nurses. She even was yelling at them in some kind of hallucination when I talked to her. She had to have an aide 24/7 and they had to sedate her. One nurse called me saying that she was just ranting and raving! My quiet Japanese mom! And don't get me started on the fear when the social worker said she would need long term care @ $3,000 per month. Freak out! Luckily once discharged and on treatment she recovered very quickly but her dementia is much worse....she's now lost her mobility and balance over 50%. Had to buy wheelchair, walker, etc. Plus now she refuses to bathe - it's now 2 months and she stinks literally. BTW Kaiser will cover all those appliances with a relatively low co-worker when doc prescribed. I didn't know and bought the wheelchair already. Good luck! -BB
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I'm so sorry you're going through such a difficult time. I know we're very lucky and we're keeping our fingers crossed that she stays in such good health.
DeleteWay to go! to the Good Samaritans who helped your Mom.
ReplyDeleteWay to go! to Art for treating her with a chocolate Easter goodie!
Hello Julie! Thank you so much for your kind comments.
DeleteWow. This is the limit. I'm so glad your mom came out of this OK. I can imagine the strain on you and Art!
ReplyDeleteI linked to this on my blog, because it's just so unbelievable that this could happen.
Love the photo-tale, love your mom going, "what's the problem?" and jumping up on CAT scan tables, and most of all love her vote-canceling Bernie button. That is just great.
ReplyDeleteHello Michael! It's so nice to meet you. Thank you very much for your kind comment. I hope I'm in as good a shape as mom when I am her age.
Deleteyour mom is amazing.
ReplyDeleteyour mum is a brave and strong woman
ReplyDeleteoh your poor mom!!! i am so glad she is okay!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your mom recovered so well! She's an amazing woman.
ReplyDeleteHer energy and determination does often amaze me. She's much better at keeping healthy than I or my brother are.
DeleteI voted for Bernie during the SC primary. I can't believe how bad he lost there.
ReplyDelete"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a democrat" -Will Rogers
You should have heard my gasp when I read the part about Aunty falling and hitting her head! But I was glad to read that she was handling it like a trooper and that she was being pampered. Sometimes it's hard to figure if you need to seek medical advice but I'm certainly glad that you did. Take care and hugs, Holly
ReplyDeleteThe caucus sounds like a real mixed-up activity that must discourage a lot of people from participating. Glad you had your Mom medically checked out -- wise any time someone's head hits an object, the floor or the ground.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, I am so happy that your Mom is okay after her fall. She is an amazing lady. Well you are all amazing for sticking around such a chaotic event.
ReplyDeleteSort of a bad news/good news! What a day, and just to vote. my my.
ReplyDelete